Reviews for Hank Willis Thomas: Pitch Blackness

The average rating for Hank Willis Thomas: Pitch Blackness based on 2 reviews is 5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2012-07-15 00:00:00 Neil Randall [I love Hank Willis Thomas, and so do my students! I had a few young men in my sophomore English class explore his work alongside a speech they were writing on crime in urban communities as if they were Martin Luther King in 2012. Brilliant stuff.] Hank Willis Thomas, son of Deborah Thomas, is an African-American photographer whose work focuses on advertising, the commodification of the Black male body, and violence, particularly in relation to the culture surrounding marketing. He won the first ever Aperture West Book prize for his monograph "Pitch Blackness" in November, 2008'a book about the murder of his cousin, Songha Willis Thomas, outside of a club in Philadelphia. Shot dead over his gold necklace, the senselessness of Songha's demise led Thomas to create; in fact, Thomas states, "All my work is about what I learned and what I lost when the closest person to me in the world was killed over a chain." Herein lies the blatant motivation behind Thomas' ability and desire to make conscious, provocative art. His subjective vision is that of a member of a marginalized community in America, that of someone who has directly experienced loss that is statistically race-related. Thus, all of Willis' work'be it portraiture, documentary, appropriated, or constructed environment'speaks to larger issues of race, class, and the exploitative, corrupt nature of advertising in America. The main page of Thomas' website is stark white with three blocks of text confined in rectangles across the middle'"Ads Imitate Art", "Art Imitates Life", "Life Imitates Ads". With these statements, Thomas perfectly illustrates the cyclical, inescapable chain that binds advertisements and consumerism with daily life as the evolution of each affects and is affected by the other…and all of this is conveyed before the now captive audience even views his work. A particular photograph from his series "Branded"'which focuses on the commodification of the African-American male body, especially in sports advertisements and the connection between their body type and the cotton and slave trade industries upon which American Capitalism is founded on'is particularly intriguing. The piece in question is a side profile of a shaved African-American man's head branded with a Nike symbol'his face isn't visible, stripping him entirely of identity, while the checkmark inflicted upon his flesh is ubiquitous and instantly recognizable. The photograph immediately draws to mind Louis Agassiz's slave daguerreotypes, in which he 'scientifically catalogued' slaves from various parts of Africa to prove that distinct races originate from distinct places. Both Agassiz and Thomas' photographs are shot against white backgrounds and resemble mugshots, but the similarities end here, as the messages are clearly worlds apart. However, it could be that Thomas is not only removing the texts from ads to show what companies are really selling, but in this instance, referencing Agassiz and, in keeping with the cyclical theme on his main page, the other works being produced at his time that may have motivated his daguerreotypes. A number of other images from the "Branded" series draw to mind influences on Agassiz…the image of a basketball player's lower-half mid-air as if dunking with a chain around his ankle attaching him to a basketball-weight is reminiscent not only of the bondage of slavery but of a famous statue during Agassiz's time of a beautiful nude with a chain trailing off of her ankle. All of Thomas' work in "Branded" is appropriated and manipulated to draw a connection between our consumer culture that commodifies the Black male athlete now, fueling Capitalism, and the Black slave that created Capitalism in the first place…all of these nameless Black men utilized for what they are seemingly most efficient at, and not appreciated for or seen as anything else. "Unbranded" also focuses on advertisements, but specifically on ads spanning the late 60's until now that feature our perceptions of African-American families, women, and men at different points in time. By removing the text and presenting us with just the images and not manipulating them as much as in "Branded" in which slavery references are made, Thomas forces us to see what it is we buy and what motivates us to do so, creating the question, what about these ads truly attracts us? It's complex, and again draws on the cyclical statements on his front page. Thomas states, "I believe that in part, advertising's success rests on its ability to reinforce generalizations around race, gender, and ethnicity which can be entertaining, sometimes true, sometimes horrifying, but which at a core level are a reflection of the way a culture views itself or its aspirations." Indeed, this series is quite successful in exposing this 'success' in that the images stripped bare really give the feel that they were created by a few wealthy White men in a corporate office, trying to envision how to appeal to a demographic they will never understand. This is the nature of advertising, of Capitalism'indoctrinating the masses to create gain for an elite few, while making it appear as though products and brands (which are no longer the same thing) are created to cater to YOU! Removing the catchy jingles and showing the photographs illustrates the cold detachment and artificiality of these inescapable images, re-appropriating them to expose this and simultaneously reclaim them. As stated earlier, Thomas' subjective vision as an artist is fueled by the loss of his cousin'it is one centered on race relations, in everything from everyday interactions to commodification in advertising to Black-on-Black violence. Statistically speaking, Blacks hold the highest rate in America for both victim and murderer, referred to by criminologists as "self-extermination". This callous, surface term speaks to everything that Thomas is trying to expose, combat, and change…after all, there is so much more that goes into the dynamic, and we all need to recognize the part we play in creating, participating in, and becoming pawns of such a culture'art, ads, life. Thomas uses GI Joes to create a stop-motion of his cousin's murder, because they are the toys he played with as a child, toys marketed for "5+" that speak to cultural and gender stereotypes and result in "the breeding of a culture of violent thoughts for young boys who are invited to author violent scenarios before they can even read". This endless loop of being influenced by the media and adjusting our cultural perceptions accordingly (and vice versa) is a theme that is bigger than our current culture'as Thomas explores beautifully, provocatively, and successfully, it is a phenomenon that can be traced back to the beginning of racial inequality and marginalization for Capitalist gain in America. Thomas's unique work is painstakingly created, and his message is a necessary one for a generation that is more influenced and surrounded by the media and ads than ever before.

Review # 2 was written on 2018-01-02 00:00:00 Jose Borges Incredible work. So provocative. The most striking image for me was the photo of the chains tying basketball and ankle together.